FAST REACTION TO TURKISH LAW

9 March 2007

Bwin was expecting this one.....and clearly has its eyes on a Turkish license

Reuters reported this week that Austrian public company bwin has decided to temporarily withdraw its online gaming offers from Turkey following the passage of new anti-online gambling laws.

"Although on one hand, the new law prohibits online games of chance, on the other it also provides for the possibility of acquiring a license at a later date," bwin said in a statement.

Bwin generates about 6 percent of its gross gaming revenues in the country, which meant the halt on its Turkey business could slash gross gaming revenues by Euros 15-20 million ($26.3 million) per year, according to a spokesman.

Bwin said it would aim to acquire a license if Turkish authorities chose to issue any, adding it was unclear when this could be the case.

"We don't really have much information on this," spokeswoman Karin Klein said. "Our lawyers are investigating."

Online gambling companies are facing increasingly stringent regulation in the United States and Europe, with governments curbing Internet gambling to protect customers and state-run lotteries.

Reuters recaps that last year, bwin wrote off most of the value of its U.S. poker website, which it acquired for more than Euro 500 million earlier in 2006, after the United States effectively outlawed Internet gambling by legislating against financial transactions with online gambling companies.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa

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